From Homer to Hollywood: The Manchester Odyssey goes on public display as The John Rylands Library showcases its special collections on the global stage

The John Rylands Library will exhibit on public display one of its most extraordinary treasures from 15 July 2026, bringing visitors face-to-face with the oldest surviving copy of Homer’s Odyssey in book form anywhere in the world. The display, The Manchester Odyssey , opens just two days before the worldwide release of Sir Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated film The Odyssey. View post from Universal Studios ‘The Odyssey’ Instagram page Copied in Egypt in the 3rd century CE, when readers were beginning to abandon scrolls for bound pages, this rare, 1,700-year-old parchment manuscript tells